


Convincing

by Skeren



Series: Chasing Havoc [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003)
Genre: But Ed is trying really hard, Jean is really mostly straight, M/M, Maybe too hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 03:18:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5851993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeren/pseuds/Skeren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edward Elric really has no idea how to do this courtship thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Convincing

**Author's Note:**

> Written October of 2006.

He'd have to work out a different plan of attack. Sometimes when a man said no, he really meant no. No matter how it was being offered, or even _what_ was being offered. He should know, he said no all the time. 

Then Al tended to talk him right out of whatever he'd just said no to, so even if a man _meant_ no, that didn't mean that he couldn't end up with it turned into a _yes_. He just had to be persuaded the right way was all. The right way being his way. Okay, maybe not, his way had failed horribly once already. 

Asking for advice was out of the question, since just about everyone he knew was straight. Hell, even the target of his affection was straight. He wasn't about to treat the man like a woman though, and he just _knew_ that would fail and fail horribly. So he had to come at it another way. 

Let's see, if he wanted someone, okay _didn't_ want someone, and they wanted to get into his pants, then how would they have to come at him? Books. That was the immediate answer right there. They'd need to distract him. Books would be perfect for getting his attention off of them directly so they could do something else without him getting suspicious. 

After that though, what? He'd be reading and ignoring the hell out of him, them. The metaphorical person. So… food would be the next step. He never did tend to turn down free food, especially if he knew someone. And if the someone had already expressed a really clear interest? And if it was a _girl_? He'd be really, really uncomfortable and duck out as fast as possible. At least without seeming mean. If it was… say… Scheizska! Wow, that would be awkward. 

So, if Scheizska was trying to woo him she'd use books, and feed him… then… what? He'd run away? Okay, maybe that wouldn't work out so well. He'd feel obligated to give the books back, so he didn't disappoint her, and she'd try to get him to sit down and give him the big eyed look thing she did, so he'd stay. Just for chocolate or something though, then he'd go. And Al would make him feel guilty for leading her on, because Al did that. Well, when he wasn't with Winry he did that. 

Right, but if Al _didn't_ make him feel guilty he'd still be uncomfortable. And avoid Scheizska. So when he went to the library he'd be stealthy and she'd come over and read near him, where he could see her if he looked up from the book. Which he wouldn't. Because clearly he'd be really engrossed in the book. He would bet it was a really good book she somehow engineered him to find. Then she'd creep in… and he'd run away again.

Okay, maybe he was coming at this all wrong, because he wasn't Jean. Jean was, for one, way taller than him, and had blue eyes. Just to state the obvious. He also didn't think the man would go for books. Cigarettes? He could do that, cigarettes. He was old enough to get him the good ones. What else would make good Havoc-gifts?

He nearly smacked himself and forced himself to think of him as _Jean_. If he was going to get into a relationship calling him Havoc was all wrong. Even sporadically. 

Right, okay. Cigarettes, gun… he needed to talk to Hawkeye about the gun part, he was sure she'd help. She'd been watching him flounder over the man for years. And really, the man was already up to the avoidance part of the whole thing, had it down to an art. 

He could do this.

* * *

He stared at the box on his desk suspiciously. It wasn't the first one, the first having been the smokes he'd tried to return to the blond kid lurking around the corner. Alright, so he wasn't a kid so much anymore, but he was still a shrimp, which he wouldn't say to his face, and he still wasn't his type.

Not for the lack of trying. Gnawing just a little on the unlit smoke in his mouth, he moved over to open the box. It was a good hardwood one, and he paused when it was open, staring at the rifle that was settled in the material. He didn't need to pick up the card to know who it was from, but he did anyway, his blue gaze having swept around once to make sure nobody was watching. Damn chicken scratch. He had had years of practice to be able to read it at least.

_Jean,_

_Okay, I know you don't like guys. Believe me, the whole no is no is no thing you did sort of made that clear. But… Just give me one ~~shot? I don't mean in the sense of shooting me! I mean, a~~ chance? I'm a guy, you're a guy, and I know that won't ever be different. _

_If you let me, just this one time, if you aren't interested after, I'll leave it alone._

_Let me know,_

_Edward_

He had to spit out the cigarette he'd just bitten in half, cursing as he dropped the note. He couldn’t just brush off the plea with the same ease as he brushed the tobacco off his uniform. He wasn't that cruel, and he knew it. 

He had to give the kid his one chance. But that was it. That would prove to them both that it wasn't going to happen. One failed attempt and they'd be even, with no more of these gestures. They made him uneasy anyway, made him feel bad for the kid.

That was it. There was no other reason, and he quashed anything that might say otherwise.

* * *

He tried not to pace. Or fidget with his ponytail. He knew the ponytail made him look older. He didn’t want to look girly, so the hair stayed up. Not that he looked girly with it down, but he looked matured with it up. Of course. He was nervous. He shouldn't be so nervous because Havoc- no, _Jean_ had agreed.

He'd made sure to do his research, so Jean'd want to stick around after this experiment. He'd even moved his books out of his bedroom, and now he was waiting in his front room. It was an apartment, and he didn’t need all that much space. It would be nice to share the space again. 

He was not a girl, he wouldn't act like a girl. He would act like a man, and go about this like a man, and _not be nervous_. Yeah, right, he knew men got nervous all the time. But still… was that knocking?

He was here. Okay. He made himself relax, resisting the urge to go find his gloves, or a jacket, or anything else to hide his casual clothing. Instead he calmly, maybe a bit stiffly, moved to open the door. 

His smile wasn't sickly, and he shouldn't be so relieved that the other man looked as uncomfortably jittery as he himself felt. The man _always_ looked like that around him these days. "Come in?"

The blue gaze couldn’t quite meet his, but that was fine since Edward wasn't all that certain he could meet it back, and he stepped to the side so that the other blond could slip into the apartment, closing the door behind him. "So… how is this gonna work?"

"Um." He couldn't just usher him back to the bedroom. He was pretty damn sure that'd get the man going right back out the door. "I got some carryout. It's in the kitchen. If you're hungry I mean?" He glanced away from the grain of the wood in time to catch Jean stilling his fidgety motions and relax a little. 

"I- Yeah. Yeah that'll be good. Your kitchen's over here right?" He was already walking as he gestured, not looking at him, but Edward nodded anyway.

"Yeah." He needed to expand his vocabulary, clearly, but his throat was dry. 

They ate in silence, Edward staring at Jean through his hair while he picked at his food as the other man used a considerable amount of focus on his. When he cleared the dishes away, the silence was loudly awkward.

"So… how are we going to do this? You didn't say." The older man looked him in the eyes for the first time all evening at that point, pushing back from the table, and he took a deep breath. "And, it's just this one time. I really don't think that, you know, it'll change anything. But, one try okay? One."

"I know. Just this once and… I sort of have a plan already." He gave him a lopsided smile and kept his gaze steadily. He was Edward Elric. He could do this without doubts. He did not need to be nervous. "Just, um, let me…?"

The vague gesture was met by a wary nod, and he moved forward to kiss the other blond. The very uncomfortably stiff other blond. Tilting his head, he decided to wait him out, which seemed to work, as after a few more long moments of worrying stillness, he started to kiss back. 

It was actually a good deal easier after the kissing started going somewhere. At least for him. Jean still paused a lot, and seemed reluctant about leaving the kitchen with him, but Edward ate his food in there, so he wasn't about to do anything like this in that room. With that in mind, he kept up the kisses, bringing the man down the hall and trying really hard not to give him a chance to change his mind at the last minute. 

Jean broke off the kisses when they passed the doorway into the bedroom, visibly hesitating over the whole thing, and Edward did the only thing he could think of to prevent him suddenly saying no. He tackled him. The action was completely graceless, and they missed the bed, but it certainly jarred whatever thought processes had just been going through the man's head to a stop. 

He hoped he hadn't just given him a concussion. The uneven breathing-coughing thing wasn't too encouraging either. "You okay?"

"You just tackled me." Another cough and then Jean shoved to sitting, a hand moving to touch the back of his head as he grimaced a bit. "Damn it. I'm not leaving, okay? Not yet anyway, so… calm down. Before you break something, namely me." 

"Sorry. I was aiming?" He pointed sideways at the bit of furniture they'd just missed, and the older blond snorted, shaking his head.

"Alright. I'm going to get up now, not leaving the room, no need to assault me again in the near future." Eyeing him briefly, he nudged the smaller figure off of him, then gingerly got up, perching on the edge of the bed. "See? Still here. You can simmer down."

"Right." Edward didn't get off the floor, deciding to use this to his advantage, and he put his hands on the man's thighs. "So, um. We should maybe start with something… smaller, right?" He fidgeted, seeing the tension start back into the older man's frame, then went for the fly of his pants. It made the man completely freeze, but that just meant nothing important got snagged.

He didn't look up, barely catching the wide-eyed stare at the edges of his vision, and he kept the cold metal to his upper thigh as he ducked his head, quickly following the removal of the material from being his way with a sweep of his tongue. That might have been his name he'd just heard strangled, but that just meant the surprise move worked because he wasn't being pushed away, and Jean was getting hard.

No panic was good, and when the man finally relaxed under him, that was better. Well, his body relaxed, the bit he was playing with on his tongue certainly didn't. Careful sucking, movement, touching with his flesh fingers, he tried everything he'd read or thought about this particular act, and he felt larger hands tangle in his hair. It broke his ponytail, but that was okay, because the man was apparently _enjoying_ what he was doing enough to get over his aversion about touching back. In fact, he had to press down with the automail to keep his movements under control so he wouldn't end up choked.

It was messy and it made his jaw sore, but the noises he made, as well as the little reactions, they were encouraging. When Jean arched up hard into his mouth he had felt like he'd won a little victory. On crawling up his body and realizing that Jean didn't _stop_ playing with his hair, something in his chest had relaxed. When he kissed him and got kissed back without the man hesitating, that was what made him stop doubting this would work.

He didn't try to do more, he didn’t want to spoil his chance, because so far, his attempts at convincing were going much, much better than he had really expected them to. He just hoped his luck held out until morning.


End file.
